Adobe AFTER EFFECTS CS3 PROFESSIONAL User Manual page 28

Often, the creator of a template project will lock layers that should be left unmodified, and leave layers that should
be modified unlocked. This is a convenient way to reuse material and prevent accidental or inappropriate modifica-
tions.
See also
"Lock or unlock a layer" on page 152
Open a template project
• To browse and open template projects using Bridge, choose File > Browse Template Projects. Double-click a
template project to open it.
• To open a template project, choose File > Open Project. On Windows, choose Adobe After Effects Project
Template from the Files Of Type menu.
Create a template project
• To convert a project to a template project, change the filename extension from .aep to .aet.
• To save a copy of a project as a template project, choose File > Save A Copy, and then rename the copy with the
filename extension .aet.
Save and back up projects
• To save a project, choose File > Save.
• To save a copy of the project with a new automatically generated name, choose File > Increment And Save, or press
Ctrl+Alt+Shift+S (Windows) or Command+Option+Shift+S (Mac OS).
A copy of the current project is saved in the same folder as the original project. The name of the copy is the name of
the original followed by a number. If the name of the original ends with a number, that number is increased by 1.
• To save the project with a different name or to a different location, choose File > Save As.
The open project takes the new name and location; the original file remains unchanged.
• To save a copy of the project with a different name or to a different location, choose File > Save A Copy.
The open project retains its original name and location, and a copy is created with the new settings but is not opened.
• To automatically save copies of projects at regular intervals, choose Edit > Preferences > Auto-Save (Windows) or
After Effects > Preferences > Auto-Save (Mac OS), and select Automatically Save Projects.
Auto-saved files are saved in the Adobe After Effects Auto-Save folder, which is located in the same folder as the
original project file. Auto-saved file names are based on the project name: After Effects adds "auto-save n" (where n
is the number of the file in the auto-save series) to the end of the filename. Maximum Project Versions specifies how
many versions of each project file you want to save. When the number of versions saved reaches the maximum you
specify, the Auto-Save feature overwrites them starting with the oldest file.
Work with the Flowchart panel
In each composition's flowchart, individual boxes (or tiles) represent each composition, footage item, and layer.
Directional arrows represent the relationships between components.
Note: The Flowchart panel shows you only the existing relationships. You cannot use it to change relationships between
project elements.
AFTER EFFECTS CS3 22
User Guide